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Football Officiating => Texas Topics => Topic started by: Legacy Zebra on June 20, 2021, 09:49:51 PM
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For those who haven't seen it yet, the UIL Exceptions for next season are up on the TASO website. Points of interest:
- No exception for NCAA expanded team area. The team area now goes from 20 to 20.
- UIL is now enforcing the penalty for illegal jerseys. Last year's exceptions said to delete the penalty statement in 1-4-5. This year the penalty statement is not excepted. The only difference between NCAA and UIL is that UIL allows visiting teams to wear "light colored" jerseys instead of white without home team approval until 2024.
- No exception to the NCAA overtime changes. Must go for 2 in 2OT, alternate tries starting 3OT.
- Sixman follows suit. Must go for two (kick) in 2OT. Alternate 1 point tries from the 7 yard line starting in 3OT
- Ejected players are now automatically suspended for the first half of their next game. This doesn't apply to a player disqualified for targeting.
- Our jurisdiction now begins 60 minutes prior to kickoff rather than 30.
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Help me understand where you see the Team area going from the 20-yd line to 20-yd line for 2021 UIL season?
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The same way we know holding carries a 10 yard penalty: because that’s what the NCAA rule says and there is no UIL exception for it.
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I see now that the NCAA is changing that in 2021 to be the the 20-to-20. Wasn't aware of that until now. Just so other folks are not similarly unaware, this is not yet published in the NCAA rulebook for 2021. Might have been good to mention that in the prior response. Thank you.
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Going to make a simple comment not intended to create debate. If our pre-game jurisdiction is now being pushed from 30 minutes to 60 minutes then there needs to be more discussion about increasing the pay for the varsity football game, yet again. Compared to sports like basketball and baseball, football makes, on average, less per hour than those sports. Forget the argument of football officials getting part of the gate. Yes, there are games in which the gate pays off dividends. But in majority of games 4A and below the minimum of $90 (game fee) is paid. That's $15 more than the other two sports. But for a varsity football game the official is easily 5 hours invested when considering arrival requirements and common game time. That's $18/hour. For baseball, average investment is 3 hours, or $25/hour.
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Completely agree... and if I recall we got a pay bump this past year, which, in the mind of UIL (IMO) justifies the extra time. I think it will be several years before we see another pay raise. (Believe me, I'm all in favor of it!)
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Going to make a simple comment not intended to create debate. If our pre-game jurisdiction is now being pushed from 30 minutes to 60 minutes then there needs to be more discussion about increasing the pay for the varsity football game, yet again. Compared to sports like basketball and baseball, football makes, on average, less per hour than those sports. Forget the argument of football officials getting part of the gate. Yes, there are games in which the gate pays off dividends. But in majority of games 4A and below the minimum of $90 (game fee) is paid. That's $15 more than the other two sports. But for a varsity football game the official is easily 5 hours invested when considering arrival requirements and common game time. That's $18/hour. For baseball, average investment is 3 hours, or $25/hour.
I'd definitely like to see a pay increase but as far as a time commitment/jurisdiction, it doesn't change for us. We've always arrived on site 2.5 hours before kickoff and are on the field 1 hour prior to kickoff anyway. Same as it ever was... (with all due respect to David Byrne).
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I had a discussion about this yesterday with some local colleagues. We all agree that we -and the UIL - cannot expect officials to expend more time with this avocation without additional compensation. But, let's first understand why the jurisdiction was extended.
The jurisdiction was extended largely due to the fact that most (if not all) teams conclude their pre-game warmup around KO-minus 30 minutes, and return to their dressing rooms. So, when the crews arrives on the field at KO-minus 30, there is often only one team - or none - on the field. Even if there is a team(s), they are usually only there for 2 to 5 minutes, and then they depart. That leaves precious little time to check uniforms, observe snaps, talk to ball persons, and other pre-game actions we might like to perform. (Note: NCAA guys have been on the field at KO-minus 60 for many years, giving them more than ample time to perform their duties; that, too, has been extended to KO-minus 90, to help mitigate interactions between teams.)
I have not heard if this was a factor, but, as in the NCAA, there, too, may have also been consideration to help mitigate interactions between the teams.
Pros and Cons
Pros: More time to check uniforms and equipment, and observe snaps, notify game management of dangerous field conditions that need to get corrected, and perform other pre-game actions. However, we see more and more teams warming up without shoulder pads/jerseys, which hinders the ability to confirm compliance. And, many times when non-compliant items are recognized and the player/coach is notified, the baloney excuse, "Oh, this is just what (or how) I wear this for pre-game; I'll have it right for the game" is offered. So, checking uniforms/equipment is almost useless.
Cons: The biggest 'con' to the extended jurisdiction is the loss of dressing room time for the crew, to conduct a meaningful pre-game conference. Unless officials arrive more than 90 minutes before KO, then there is no time to conduct a pre-game conference. If the R and U are to meet with coaches beginning at KO-minus 75, they need a few minutes to dress; we allot 15 minutes for that. Allotting 15 minutes to complete the meetings, they are back to the dressing room, just in time to enter the field for pre-game. Assuming one teams has left the field at KO-minus 30, the crew can return to their dressing room with some 20 minutes of undedicated time. Hardly enough, or the appropriate time, for a meaningful pre-game conference at the game site. So, unless a crew is a true 'fixed crew,' and they meet during the week to prepare for a game (as some crews do), there is no opportunity for a pre-game conference, UNLESS they arrive much earlier than the prescribed 90 minutes before KO. As stated earlier, neither TASO nor the UIL can expect guys that are, for all practical purposes, volunteer officials, to put more time into this avocation than they already expend - and certainly not without significant additional compensation.
On the issue of team interactions during pre-game, it is complete BOVINE SCATOLOGY that we should be saddled with this. The coaches need to be adults and take responsibility for the behavior of their players, and THEIR behavior.
If the extension had been 15 minutes, PLUS the meetings with the coaches moved to KO-minus 90 minutes, we could still have 30 minutes for a pre-game. The R and U could go visit the coaches immediately upon arrival (in street clothes, if necessary), and be back in the dressing room by KO-minus 75. The R and U could dress while the conference is taking place, and they could get on the field by KO-minus 45. 15 minutes is enough to observe the teams and talk to ball persons. Talking to the chain crew crew can go as long as needed.
60 minutes creates problems.
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IMO there is zero chance another pay increase gets approved within the next several years.
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We've always arrived on site 2.5 hours before kickoff and are on the field 1 hour prior to kickoff anyway.
Two problems here:
1) Going on the field with teams present outside of the prescribed jurisdiction period is a major liability risk. You may want to believe that, because the jurisdiction period is prescribed by the UIL, that you would only be liable for events that occur during that jurisdiction period. If you are on the field outside of the prescribed jurisdiction period, and some event occurs that becomes a criminal or civil matter, you will become a party to that matter, like it or not, and whether you were involved, or not. Insurance is not likely to cover any liability for something that happens outside of the prescribed jurisdiction ("You weren't supposed to be out there; if you hadn't been out there, you wouldn't be involved; so, this is not an event that we will cover"). You should not be on the field, with teams present, outside of the prescribed jurisdiction period - especially in uniform. Fortunately, for 2021, that's a problem that has solved itself, with the UIL extending our jurisdiction to 60 minutes before KO. You can keep doing what you have been doing with regard to the jurisdiction period.
2) Committing to arrive 2 1/2 hours before KO is to be respected. If your crew can all get away from their "day jobs" to allow that happen, that is highly commendable. However, such is the exception - not the rule. Most folks need to stay at their jobs as long as possible, and to travel anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours to get to a game site 90 minutes before KO is difficult, enough, let alone 2 1/2 hours before KO. The big problem here is consistency. Schools should be able to know when to expect game officials to arrive. While they may have someone identified to greet you, guide you to your dressing room, and make sure your needs are tended, that person ALWAYS has other duties to perform, and they should not be expected to change their routine to accommodate us. They should be able to expect our arrival at KO-minus 90, every week. Sure. You can contact them ahead of time, and let them know when you will arrive. And you should absolutely do that if you plan to arrive at some time other than KO-minus 90. But, one of the ways we can dramatically improve our image with schools and coaches is to be consistent with everything within our power. Every crew arriving at the game site, at the same time before KO, week in and week out, is within our power. Let's start there with consistency.
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IMO there is zero chance another pay increase gets approved within the next several years.
I'm going to disagree. There is now a UIL committee who is tasked with evaluating pay. Previously there wasn't such a committee tasked with looking into the pay scales for officials. There was a slight change in pay for 2021. If you'll notice the 91-120 travel ring has vanished. That has been replaced with portal to portal mileage. Not sure if that will be good or bad but it is a change that took place.
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Our chapter arrives 2 hours before kickoff. I have seen crews taking the field an hour before prior to this policy and that was not good because we didn't have jurisdiction and if something took place we opened ourselves up to liability if we didn't intervene. Since we were already out there the UIL wanted us to have jurisdiction.
With that said, I have gone to games and the crews NEVER took the field until 7 mins before kickoff. No pregame walk, no field inspection, nothing. Had they had an incident it would not have been good. I suppose the argument could be made that they were being overpaid. ;D
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I'm going to disagree. There is now a UIL committee who is tasked with evaluating pay. Previously there wasn't such a committee tasked with looking into the pay scales for officials. There was a slight change in pay for 2021. If you'll notice the 91-120 travel ring has vanished. That has been replaced with portal to portal mileage. Not sure if that will be good or bad but it is a change that took place.
You really think there will be another pay increase within 2-3 years? I haven't seen the updated pay sheets, our chapter website just has the one from last year, and it def has pay bands; can you elaborate more on the changes for this coming year? Portal to portal, does that mean it's now a mileage per diem?
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You really think there will be another pay increase within 2-3 years? I haven't seen the updated pay sheets, our chapter website just has the one from last year, and it def has pay bands; can you elaborate more on the changes for this coming year? Portal to portal, does that mean it's now a mileage per diem?
I think we have a better chance now than we did over the last several years. The lines of communication from TASO to the UIL are very good.
If the school is more than 91 miles from the center point of the chapter then the mileage will be paid round trip from your house to the school. The new paysheets are inside the members portal on the TASO website up to 3 vehicles for a 5 man crew If 1 car is driven the rate is .56. 2 cars: .42 and 3 cars: .34 and then everyone else gets the $15 rider fee. If the distance from your house is more than 91 then those people get a meal fee of $15 as well.
A couple of examples:
1. Joe Weed is 30 miles one way from Sky High School. Sky High is 95 miles from the center point of the chapter. Joe Weed is the only driver. He'll get .56 x 60 miles for his driving. All others will get $15.00 rider fees.
2. Joe Weed is 100 miles one way from Cloud Nine High School. Cloud Nine is 33 miles from the center point of the chapter. Joe Weed transported the crew with exception to 1 member who walked across the street to the game. All members of the crew will receive $30 travel plus $15 meal fee. The lone guy who walked across the street will only get $30 travel but no meal fee.
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Going to make a simple comment not intended to create debate. If our pre-game jurisdiction is now being pushed from 30 minutes to 60 minutes then there needs to be more discussion about increasing the pay for the varsity football game, yet again. Compared to sports like basketball and baseball, football makes, on average, less per hour than those sports. Forget the argument of football officials getting part of the gate. Yes, there are games in which the gate pays off dividends. But in majority of games 4A and below the minimum of $90 (game fee) is paid. That's $15 more than the other two sports. But for a varsity football game the official is easily 5 hours invested when considering arrival requirements and common game time. That's $18/hour. For baseball, average investment is 3 hours, or $25/hour.
For me, I always take off from work at 3 PM to get ready and then travel to arrive at the stadium at 5 or 5:30 (2 hours before KO). Then work the game. Plus you have added time in the locker room after the game getting cleaned up etc. My arrival back at my house is close to 12 AM. The general public isn't even aware of the time that we dedicate for these games. Also, let's think about all the time we spend reviewing rules, game film, phone calls / zoom calls with our crew. Travel to meetings as well. Break all that down to see what the hourly wage is. We very well may be making less than $1.00 per hour.
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For me, I always take off from work at 3 PM to get ready and then travel to arrive at the stadium at 5 or 5:30 (2 hours before KO). Then work the game. Plus you have added time in the locker room after the game getting cleaned up etc. My arrival back at my house is close to 12 AM. The general public isn't even aware of the time that we dedicate for these games. Also, let's think about all the time we spend reviewing rules, game film, phone calls / zoom calls with our crew. Travel to meetings as well. Break all that down to see what the hourly wage is. We very well may be making less than $1.00 per hour.
Like I said, officials working UIL football are, essentially, volunteers. At least it is for those that truly care about what they are doing. As you say, computing all the time we spend in self-study, meetings, video review, scrimmages, chat site conversations, quizzes, travel time, equipment costs, and travel expenses, and comparing that total investment to the fees that are earned, we lose money.
I'm sure we all know folks that claim they make money. How? They never attend meetings, don't study, and make no serious commitment to the job, whatsoever. That's how. Fortunately, most of those kind don't last long. Unfortunately, there are always a few that, somehow - I don't know how - but, somehow manage to get requested by schools.
If I knew why I do this, I probably wouldn't. It ain't for the money, at this point. (FBS was reasonably lucrative, but those days are long past.) It is just in my blood and DNA. Bury me with my rule book, please. (Actually, I want to be cremated and have my ashes spread in the water off Waikiki. So, use my rule book as kindling, please. :))
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Two problems here:
1) Going on the field with teams present outside of the prescribed jurisdiction period is a major liability risk. You may want to believe that, because the jurisdiction period is prescribed by the UIL, that you would only be liable for events that occur during that jurisdiction period. If you are on the field outside of the prescribed jurisdiction period, and some event occurs that becomes a criminal or civil matter, you will become a party to that matter, like it or not, and whether you were involved, or not. Insurance is not likely to cover any liability for something that happens outside of the prescribed jurisdiction ("You weren't supposed to be out there; if you hadn't been out there, you wouldn't be involved; so, this is not an event that we will cover"). You should not be on the field, with teams present, outside of the prescribed jurisdiction period - especially in uniform. Fortunately, for 2021, that's a problem that has solved itself, with the UIL extending our jurisdiction to 60 minutes before KO. You can keep doing what you have been doing with regard to the jurisdiction period.
2) Committing to arrive 2 1/2 hours before KO is to be respected. If your crew can all get away from their "day jobs" to allow that happen, that is highly commendable. However, such is the exception - not the rule. Most folks need to stay at their jobs as long as possible, and to travel anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours to get to a game site 90 minutes before KO is difficult, enough, let alone 2 1/2 hours before KO. The big problem here is consistency. Schools should be able to know when to expect game officials to arrive. While they may have someone identified to greet you, guide you to your dressing room, and make sure your needs are tended, that person ALWAYS has other duties to perform, and they should not be expected to change their routine to accommodate us. They should be able to expect our arrival at KO-minus 90, every week. Sure. You can contact them ahead of time, and let them know when you will arrive. And you should absolutely do that if you plan to arrive at some time other than KO-minus 90. But, one of the ways we can dramatically improve our image with schools and coaches is to be consistent with everything within our power. Every crew arriving at the game site, at the same time before KO, week in and week out, is within our power. Let's start there with consistency.
Valid points.
Regarding point 1 - I guess we've been lucky. We've had no liability related issues happen in the 20 years I've had a crew.
Regarding point 2 - Every prospective crew member I've considered over the years is given a questionnaire. One question is whether arriving at the stadium (being fully aware of the region the chapter serves) 2.5 hours early is an issue? If it is, I move on. I'm fortunate to have crew members who are able to do this.
I'm certainly not advising what we do is right for every crew, but it's right for mine. Now... where's that pay increase, UIL???!
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With that said, I have gone to games and the crews NEVER took the field until 7 mins before kickoff. No pregame walk, no field inspection, nothing. Had they had an incident it would not have been good. I suppose the argument could be made that they were being overpaid. ;D
That's not an argument. That's a statement in fact. And, in fact, that's dereliction of duty. But, the coach that hires them doesn't care, as long as he wins. And, sadly, those guys are the ones that are highly suspect to be the type that makes sure he wins. And that's why we need to get coaches out of the official selection process.
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Does this specifically apply to just Varsity games, or JV as well?
…IMO it’s pretty obvious that this applies to varsity, just wondering if that was codified somewhere. No one expects officials to get to a JV or junior high game 2 hours prior to KO… but as pointed out, there are liability concerns with time.
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Does this specifically apply to just Varsity games, or JV as well?
…IMO it’s pretty obvious that this applies to varsity, just wondering if that was codified somewhere. No one expects officials to get to a JV or junior high game 2 hours prior to KO… but as pointed out, there are liability concerns with time.
Too many times someone is late and you start with a short crew on sub varsity.
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Does this specifically apply to just Varsity games, or JV as well?
…IMO it’s pretty obvious that this applies to varsity, just wondering if that was codified somewhere. No one expects officials to get to a JV or junior high game 2 hours prior to KO… but as pointed out, there are liability concerns with time.
Only talkin’ varsity. Get there when you can for SV (before kickoff) and do what you can (inspect field, etc.).
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Serious question. Why if we are going to go out 60 minutes before is 3-1-1-c deleted in the exceptions? Kind of hard to have jurisdiction and enforce a before the game foul if we cannot identify the player(s). I know it is rare, but kind of defeats the purpose. Also, why get rid of 11-1-2? Wouldn’t it make sense to at least have the buffer zone to prevent any pregame player confrontations?
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Serious question. Why if we are going to go out 60 minutes before is 3-1-1-c deleted in the exceptions? Kind of hard to have jurisdiction and enforce a before the game foul if we cannot identify the player(s). I know it is rare, but kind of defeats the purpose. Also, why get rid of 11-1-2? Wouldn’t it make sense to at least have the buffer zone to prevent any pregame player confrontations?
Short answer: Because it is the UIL.
They would use the ‘economic impact’ argument regarding wearing numbers. They would have to get some kind of shirts - other than jerseys - to wear before they put on their pads and jerseys for team warmup. Ya know, their players like to go out in undershirts to throw around, kick, etc.
And they don’t want to be restricted as to where they can warm up. They don’t think they need the same level of control as colleges.
🙄
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Like I said, officials working UIL football are, essentially, volunteers. At least it is for those that truly care about what they are doing. As you say, computing all the time we spend in self-study, meetings, video review, scrimmages, chat site conversations, quizzes, travel time, equipment costs, and travel expenses, and comparing that total investment to the fees that are earned, we lose money.
I'm sure we all know folks that claim they make money. How? They never attend meetings, don't study, and make no serious commitment to the job, whatsoever. That's how. Fortunately, most of those kind don't last long. Unfortunately, there are always a few that, somehow - I don't know how - but, somehow manage to get requested by schools.
If I knew why I do this, I probably wouldn't. It ain't for the money, at this point. (FBS was reasonably lucrative, but those days are long past.) It is just in my blood and DNA. Bury me with my rule book, please. (Actually, I want to be cremated and have my ashes spread in the water off Waikiki. So, use my rule book as kindling, please. :))
How do you know what officials are doing when they aren’t on the field? You don’t know when or what they are studying. From what I have seen, majority of coaches like officials that can actually talk to them and aren’t just rule book nerds. I’ve seen a couple of those guys like who you are talking about on tv reffing state games in Arlington… they must be doing something right
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How do you know what officials are doing when they aren’t on the field? You don’t know when or what they are studying. From what I have seen, majority of coaches like officials that can actually talk to them and aren’t just rule book nerds. I’ve seen a couple of those guys like who you are talking about on tv reffing state games in Arlington… they must be doing something right
And therein lies the problem. No one in the officiating community should care one bit about what coaches think or like. They have their job to do - let ‘em do it. I won’t bother them, or pretend to know anything about coaching. Likewise, leave us alone, and don’t pretend to know anything about officiating - because even the most successful coaches know next to nothing about officiating.
If you think that Jim Tunney, Tommy Bell, Red Cashion, Jerry Markbreit, Ed Hochuli, Tony Corrente, Terry McCauley, Carl Cheffers, Shawn Hochuli, Land Clark, John Hussey, Scott Novak, Brad Rogers aren’t/weren’t rule book ‘nerds,’ you are completely out of touch with reality. These guys know/knew rules - the language, the intent, the philosophy, and application - backward and forward.
And these are just Referees. The guys working the other positions are just as strong on rules. Yes, they have to be. But, they WANT to be, too. How do I know, you ask? I shared hotel rooms and worked on the field with no less than a dozen current NFL folks over the years (four of those noted above). And I was in clinics with the rest (some were guest speakers, many were clinicians, and others were fellow staff. We talked a lot about rules and officiating. Hardly ever talked about what Stoops / Spurrier / Erickson / Harbaugh, et al, thought or liked.
I have observed crews at state championship games, and have had to shake my head wondering how in the heck some of those guys got there. Many are excellent. But far too many are an embarrassment.
Yeah, they got there. But that dang sure doesn’t mean they were doing something right. Getting ‘picked’ by a coach for an officiating assignment means absolutely nothing.
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It will always and forever be a problem until coaches are removed from the assignment process. Maybe maintain a way for them to scratch, but they should absolutely not be selecting individuals and/or whole crews, and maybe not even chapters.
Unless there is some sordid conspiracy that gets brought to light that materially affects the integrity of the game, it will never happen though. I've had a LOT of discussions with various personnel, on both the officiating and coaching/staff side, and here's how I think this could be done:
UIL has responsibility for picking chapters for certain games (probably area or quarters and above, based on availability and location of the mutually-agreed upon site.)
UIL assigns chapters for particular games, period. If a coach wants to scratch the assigned crew, fine, they get one entire crew scratch (not person) per round, 2 per post-season - but it is assignor's choice, based on chapter methodology for selection, not coaches' choice, for the second crew. (This would minimize the possibility of a 'buddy-buddy relationship between a coach and crew, since the other coach could request different officials.) Coaches can appeal a chapter assignment only if both coaches are in agreement, and UIL is absolutely not obligated to make a new selection (depending on the arguments of the coaches as to why that particular chapter shouldn't call their game.)
Each chapter is responsible for having a published prioritization/qualification system to determine what crew, or individual personnel, if the chapter doesn't use crews), are qualified for postseason assignments. This will help reduce the perennial problem of internal gritching about who did/did not get certain games inside the chapter - you want those games, get qualified for them. (not a perfect solution, but better than current, IMO)
And here's the real pickle that gets everyone worked up every year: championship games.
For state championship games, UIL will publish a schedule at the beginning of the year, based on rotations, that assign a particular chapter to a particular championship game. I have heard the argument that 'we just don't know if Chapter X or Chapter Y has enough quality officials to officiate a championship game, so it should always go to a major metro chapter' and it is arrogant and ludicrous. EVERY chapter in the state is capable of producing a championship-quality crew. Every single one, not just major metro areas. Yes, there are more chapters than championship games - every so often, you're the odd man out. This may not be a perfect system, but it as hell is better than what is in place now. And no, it doesn't eliminate the internal politicking and jockeying for post season assignments, but having those criteria established at the chapter level, will help with that. At least it minimizes the (VALID) complaints about chapters being completely overlooked based on incorrect, ignorant assumptions about smaller, rural chapters.
//steps off soapbox, carry on//
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For state championship games, UIL will publish a schedule at the beginning of the year, based on rotations, that assign a particular chapter to a particular championship game. I have heard the argument that 'we just don't know if Chapter X or Chapter Y has enough quality officials to officiate a championship game, so it should always go to a major metro chapter' and it is arrogant and ludicrous. EVERY chapter in the state is capable of producing a championship-quality crew.
//steps off soapbox, carry on//
Every chapter, I suspect has that one crew that they think is the #1 crew. I would expect that each one of those crews could equally officiate any level of championship game.
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100% agree
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It would be nice to have an objective evaluation process to determine assignments, but that's just not possible in Texas high school football right now. Coaches obviously have no idea how to truly evaluate an official or crew. It's not their fault, they have a job to do too. But at the end of the day they can't grade our mechanics, they don't know the rules, and most of them tend to be ball watchers so they don't see what 60-70% of the crew is watching. The other side of that coin is that most (all?) chapters don't have the resources to adequately evaluate all of their crews. This isn't college ball where a coordinator has graders to look at film every week. Not to mention all the games that never get film back. How many games get honestly graded across the state every week? I mean actually graded, not just the crew looking through the film and talking about a few plays. I would guess very very few. So you get crews that are ok at best calling big games because they've been calling those games for years and people just assume that they are a good crew. And you also get really good crews stuck doing off the radar games because nobody has every seen them work.
Until there is a true evaluation process, you're stuck with assigners making their best guesses based on test scores, experience, meeting discussions, and word of mouth. But agree with others here that coaches should have absolutely no say in the process.
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It would be nice to have an objective evaluation process to determine assignments, but that's just not possible in Texas high school football right now. Coaches obviously have no idea how to truly evaluate an official or crew. It's not their fault, they have a job to do too. But at the end of the day they can't grade our mechanics, they don't know the rules, and most of them tend to be ball watchers so they don't see what 60-70% of the crew is watching. The other side of that coin is that most (all?) chapters don't have the resources to adequately evaluate all of their crews. This isn't college ball where a coordinator has graders to look at film every week. Not to mention all the games that never get film back. How many games get honestly graded across the state every week? I mean actually graded, not just the crew looking through the film and talking about a few plays. I would guess very very few. So you get crews that are ok at best calling big games because they've been calling those games for years and people just assume that they are a good crew. And you also get really good crews stuck doing off the radar games because nobody has every seen them work.
Until there is a true evaluation process, you're stuck with assigners making their best guesses based on test scores, experience, meeting discussions, and word of mouth. But agree with others here that coaches should have absolutely no say in the process.
Being a small chapter.... 16 games max on a Friday. We have a film evaluation committee so we do watch every game, but I expect we are the exception. I used to watch them all by myself over about 3 or 4 days.... Now that we formed a committee it took some load off and now we can be more thorough. We mainly done it so we could catalog each Foul and show which ones were CC, IC, etc. We haven't turned it into a true ranking system but the good crews do stand out. There would be no way that a chapter that works 100 games a week could do that. It's an exhausting process.
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And therein lies the problem. No one in the officiating community should care one bit about what coaches think or like. They have their job to do - let ‘em do it. I won’t bother them, or pretend to know anything about coaching. Likewise, leave us alone, and don’t pretend to know anything about officiating - because even the most successful coaches know next to nothing about officiating.
If you think that Jim Tunney, Tommy Bell, Red Cashion, Jerry Markbreit, Ed Hochuli, Tony Corrente, Terry McCauley, Carl Cheffers, Shawn Hochuli, Land Clark, John Hussey, Scott Novak, Brad Rogers aren’t/weren’t rule book ‘nerds,’ you are completely out of touch with reality. These guys know/knew rules - the language, the intent, the philosophy, and application - backward and forward.
And these are just Referees. The guys working the other positions are just as strong on rules. Yes, they have to be. But, they WANT to be, too. How do I know, you ask? I shared hotel rooms and worked on the field with no less than a dozen current NFL folks over the years (four of those noted above). And I was in clinics with the rest (some were guest speakers, many were clinicians, and others were fellow staff. We talked a lot about rules and officiating. Hardly ever talked about what Stoops / Spurrier / Erickson / Harbaugh, et al, thought or liked.
I have observed crews at state championship games, and have had to shake my head wondering how in the heck some of those guys got there. Many are excellent. But far too many are an embarrassment.
Yeah, they got there. But that dang sure doesn’t mean they were doing something right. Getting ‘picked’ by a coach for an officiating assignment means absolutely nothing.
I think you misunderstood what I mean by “talking to coaches”. Some officials can actually communicate with coaches in a calming manner about what they saw and the reason the had a foul or didn’t have one. The answer isn’t always to just scream at them and lose your mind and have a “my way or the highway” mentality. That’s why some guys get “picked” for big games in the regular season and in the playoffs. I know many of the officials you name dropped about being rule book “nerds”. Yes they know the rules very well! But what sets them apart is they know how to enforce them and use judgment in big games and in blowouts They don’t just poop their pants in big moments.
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I think you misunderstood what I mean by “talking to coaches”. Some officials can actually communicate with coaches in a calming manner about what they saw and the reason the had a foul or didn’t have one. The answer isn’t always to just scream at them and lose your mind and have a “my way or the highway” mentality. That’s why some guys get “picked” for big games in the regular season and in the playoffs. I know many of the officials you name dropped about being rule book “nerds”. Yes they know the rules very well! But what sets them apart is they know how to enforce them and use judgment in big games and in blowouts They don’t just poop their pants in big moments.
Nope. Understood perfectly. Wear the shoes that fit.
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From a clock operator perspective, I usually like to get to the stadium at least an hour and a half to two hours before kickoff, although a majority of the time, when I got to the stadium two hours before, none of the crew would be there, as I was early.
Once the crew chief and/or back judge get there, I will have a pre-game chat, then do the following, in order:
1. Go up to the press box and check the game/play clock (I will check both if the other clock operator is not there, if I know how to operate the clock)
2. Report any problems to the crew chief before kickoff, so the problem can be resolved or arrange for alternate timing
For me, as a clock operator, getting there early gives me a chance to get all the pre-game things that we need to do done.